| LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, ' 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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I 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



A 



TRIP TO ROME 



IN 



I 869 



By C. M; 



PRINTED PRIVATELY BY R. CLARK 
1869. 



My Dear B . . . , 

I can only now say that I am in a 
fair way of jogging on, having been a good deal 
put out of my way. 

As you are aware, we left on the 29th Janu- 
ary, in the evening, so we arrived next morning, 
and, after breakfasting, etc., I made several calls 
of a business nature, and finished at the Al- 
hambra in the evening. The ballet-girls very 
fine, especially in the understandings, and nowise 
loath to let them be seen. The prima danseuse 
displayed as much as possible of as beautiful a 
pair of legs and hips as you ever saw, covered 
of course ; but, as Milton says, " light that only 
made the darkness visible." She had on a 
flimsy, gauzy, or, I should rather say, gazeous 
pair of drawers, through which you could easily 
see up to her waist. 

B 



2 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



On (31st) Sunday we strolled about seeing 
the improvements, and especially the Thames 
Embankment, Mrs. W . . . . joined us from 
Liverpool in the evening. 

Feb. 1st. Made a few more calls, and in the 
evening went to the Drury Lane pantomime, 
which was about the worst I ever saw. I don't 
think it would have run in Edinburgh a week ; 
and the music even was bad. 

2d. Visited the Tower, and went through 
the armoury; saw the crown jewels, and, among 
other things, the block on which Kilmarnock, 
Balmerino, etc., laid dow r n their heads for their 
last nap. The old chapel is very curious ; 
although 800 years old it seems as if it had just 
been finished (I mean the stone-work) and was 
waiting for the joiners, the stones being as white 
and clean as when taken from the quarry. To- 
day we dined with Mr. D . . . ., an artist. Saw 
some very pretty Scotch views, and a fine view of 
St. Abb's Head in a storm, with a floating wreck. 
He was just sending them to the Exhibition of 
Water Colours. We had a jolly night, a pretty 
large party, and got home after midnight. 

3d. Went to the Thames Tunnel, at which they 
are working away at both ends, for the pur- 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



3 



pose, I believe, of running a railway through it ; 
then we went to the forenoon performance at 
the Lyceum, which was beautiful — the trans- 
formation scene magnificent ; I think it is the 
finest in London. In the evening we went to 
the Holborn, Fanny Joseph's (or, as she is called 
here, Lady Clinton) Theatre ; it is a pretty clean 
little place; the acting no great deal, except 
Fanny herself and Honey, whom you will re- 
member at the Operetta House. 

4:th. Went to Covent Garden, and saw Eobin- 
son Crusoe — a very fine pantomime indeed ; the 
transformation scene is said to have cost £3000. 
I went and saw Toole, who inquired after and 
desired to be remembered to you and Mrs. 
B . . . . 

5th. Left London at mid-day, and arrived in 
Paris at eleven p.m., after a most beautiful sail, the 
sea as smooth as glass, comfortable and warm 
till sunset, which was glorious — one of those 
Turner liked so well to paint, and which I never 
believed he saw till now. We landed before 
dark, and at once got the train, which was wait- 
ing for us, and on we went. In Paris, we went 
to the Hotel d'Harcourt, a very nice house, and 
not at all expensive. 



4 



A TEIP TO ROME. 



6th. Did a few churches, the Madeleine, etc., 
which having seen a dozen times before, will 
pass them over without comment. After dinner 
we strolled up the Boulevards des Italiens, and 
sat down in front of one of the cafes, looking at 
the people passing. This being carnival time, a 
considerable latitude is allowed, both in keeping 
places open and mischief-making among the 
people. Numbers go about in mumming cos- 
tumes ; women in men's, and men in women's 
clothes ; some like jockeys, and some like the 
sailors in a pantomime ; others like clowns, and 
some one half of one thing and the other half of 
another. We sat there till half-past eleven o'clock 
P.M., and then went to the Valentino to a masked 
ball, but it was scarcely worth the trouble. It 
was simply coarse. Lots of large dairies in full 
view, legs do., but nothing fine ; lots of fantastic 
dresses such as I mentioned having seen on the 
Boulevards. Two fellows had large boots, the 
soles uppermost, for hats ; one wench had a pair 
of large tin pails for ear-rings, some were half- 
naked, and altogether very queer. 

*7th. To-day was the great " Bceuf Gras" day 
of the carnival. Tuesday should be it ; but I 
was told it is generally the first day that is the 



A TRIP TO EOME. 







best. Of course all the dresses and decorations 
are fresh. 

The procession consisted of a few sergens de 
ville, who drove the crowd forward. They were 
followed by some mounted soldiers, behind 
whom came a marshal of the sixteenth century 
on horseback, then lots of knights in various 
styles of armour, till it ended by what seemed a 
troop of templars ; then came a large state car- 
riage or rather platform, on which stood, deco- 
rated with ribbons and flowers, the Boeuf Gras, 
a jolly-looking beast, weighing 1500 kilos., or 
about 3500 lbs. On the platform with him were 
his attendants, all carefully dressed ; some more 
guards, and then another state car, in which, 
dressed after the antique, were the heathen gods 
and goddesses of the Eoman Pantheon, the eating 
and drinking ones being the most prominent — 
Ceres, Bacchus, Satyrs, and Bacchantes. 

On the first day they visit the Tuilleries, the 
British and Turkish embassies, and the Jockey 
Club. At the first it is said they get £100, at 
the second and third £40 each, and I don't know 
what they get at the Jockey Club. On the two 
following days they call on some of the minor 
legations, etc., and get what they can. 



6 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



After dinner we again took a place in front of 
a cafe in the Boulevards des Italiens, and saw 
lots more of fantastically dressed mummers. A 
sign of the times among the demi-monde is to 
display a small portion of a white petticoat when 
walking ; and also when sitting it is conspicu- 
ously displayed a leetle above the boot ; of 
course they sit cross-legged. 

In the evening (half-past ten) went to the 
Pre-au-clercs, but left very soon. Neither the 
masks nor the fun were worth seeing. 

8 1 h. Made several purchases, for a friend, of 
pictures, etc., and a score of photographs to 
complete my own private collection ; and 
then took the rail to Lyons, arriving there 
about seven a.m., and went to bed for three 
hours. 

9th. Had breakfast ; went and saw three 
silk-factories, of different kinds, the velvet 
one very curious. It may show a little how 
public feeling runs here, when I tell you that 
when they make any bad work which requires 
to be undone, it is said to be for the King of 
Prussia. Among the churches, I think St. John's 
the finest. The windows of the chapels of the 
Kings of France are beautiful, but are not seen 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



7 



to advantage, being surrounded by high houses 
which shut out the light. 

10th. Left for Avignon, where the first thing 
w r e saw was a little donkey-cart filled with 
drunken revellers keeping carnival, although, 
according to the laws of the church, it finished 
yesterday, and we had not gone far before we 
came upon several others. I don't think, put- 
ting all the times I have been on the Continent 
together, I ever saw so many drunken people ; 
every town was the same. I suppose it is the 
carnival time that excuses it ; however, there 
stands the fact. 

This is a quaint old place with its old palace, 
now barracks. Its fine old Notre Dame, standing 
on the hill-top, overlooking the country to a 
great distance in every direction ; the Ehone at 
your feet, traceable a long way back its course, 
with its tributaries falling in here and there, 
like little ribbons fluttering till they meet into 
a broad band round the waist of a French belle. 
I wonder they have never repaired the old Eoman 
bridge, the half of which is standing in the 
river. It is a curious spectacle. We lett this 
for Marseilles about seven p.m., and arrived late 
at night. The views along here were magnifi- 



8 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



cent, but darkness soon put an end to them. 
Trying in spite of fate to see them, I managed to 
get a fearful cold, and yet the weather was not 
cold ; but I suppose the damp grey mist from 
the Ehone did it. N'importe. 

11th. There is not much to be seen at Mar- 
seilles, except the magnificent harbour and docks, 
a triumphal arch to Louis Napoleon, one or two 
statues, and one or two fine new streets, that of 
the Imperial said to have cost 18,000,000 francs. 
Having done Marseilles, we took the express to 
Nice. I meant to have called at Cannes on 
Willie Stewart, but my cold was so bad that I 
thought it safer to get on here, where I purpose 
remaining a few days, than perhaps having to 
lay myself up at Cannes. I, however, wrote 
him from here. So, if you see Mr. E. S . . . . 
about the Bay, you can tell him this, and that 
I told him I would leave his Masonic Reporter 
any place he would indicate. 

I cannot describe the loveliness, the grandeur, 
the beauty of the ride to this place, the beautiful 
sea-view of the Mediterranean, the bright sun, 
the brilliant flowers, all like midsummer — the 
oranges hanging on the trees, all tempting you 
to lie down and listlessly enjoy the scene. On 



A TEIP TO ROME. 



9 



our arrival we went to the Hotel de France, the 
windows of which look out upon the Mediter- 
ranean ; and, when I opened my eyes in the 
morning, I was quite overpowered to see the 
far distant stretch of the deep blue sea, with- 
out ever raising my head from the pillow. Mr. 
W . . . . 's tw r o daughters and Dick S . . . . are 
here ; we called on them, and they intend going 
on with us. They told us the Hotel de France 
was a dear place, and recommended us to an- 
other, where, if we were to stop a few days, we 
could make a bargain ; and so we did, and don't 
regret it, as our bill for the one night at the 
' France ' was quite big enough. 

12th. There is nothing very particular to see 
here in the shape of public buildings or churches. 
In one or two of the latter we have been, but 
nothing worth noting. The place is very gay ; 
the " Promenade Anglaise " is crowded from ten 
A.M. till dark ; nearly all strangers — Britons, 
Americans, Germans, and weakly French. It 
is the finest promenade I ever saw : on one side 
are all the finest hotels, and on the other the 
sea ; between which, however, and the prome- 
naders is a high hedge quite thick enough to 
keep out any cold breeze. 



10 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



13th. Took a boat and had a sail. It was 
very fine to lie back in the stern and blow your 
own steam. We tried to get on shore at a point 
where a new castle is being erected, but owing 
to a heavy roll which was not perceptible when 
w T e were sailing, we could not, as, when within 
a boat's length of the rock, the boat was lifted 
quite suddenly about four feet, and then drawn 
out again by the receding of the water, to be lifted 
in again and run the risk of getting some of the 
sharp-pointed rocks through her bottom, so we 
gave it up and tried another place, where we suc- 
ceeded, dismissed the boat, and went into a cafe, 
where we did brandy and lemonade. 

14tth. This has been an idle kind of day ; Mrs. 
M. has not been at all well, confined to her room, 
and I am not much better, having caught a very 
severe cold, my nose is about the size of a jar- 
gonelle, and as varied in colour as some of your 
specimens of red and white marble. Blow it ! 
Til be blowed if I can ! We have had to break- 
fast in our own room. I made an attempt to dine 
at the table d'hote, but did not enjoy it. 

I forgot to mention the velocipedes ; they are 
all the rage on the Continent just now. In Paris 
they run along all the Boulevards and public 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



11 



places, some of the riders dressed like jockeys 
— somewhat gayer colours than our jockeys ; 
then they have velocipede Derbys — some of the 
prizes, I have heard, are valuable — the speed ob- 
tained being wonderful — two miles in ten and 
a half minutes. Here they are a perfect nui- 
sance ; you always expect to be run into, when, 
just at the moment of the expected collision, a 
sudden jerk and you don't know where they have 
gone to. I think the rascals do it on purpose : 
once or twice I have had my fist clenched, to 
act by way of a buffer if they came near me. 
Taking a turn in the evening, discovered a shop 
in which w T e got a bottle of very good whisky, 
and I need not tell you it soon disappeared in 
clouds of steam arising from the boiling water * 

15th Having exhausted this place w r e took 
our tickets direct for Naples, and afterwards got 
another bottle of aqua, which served us to pass 
our last night in Nice. I do not think it a good 
winter place for invalids, although the sun is 
warm, and the air mild while he is shining, yet 
there is always a cold air, wind, or breeze, as the 
case may be, from the snow-covered Alps. 

16th. Left Nice nine A.M., and, after a beautiful 
coasting voyage, reached Genoa in the eveniug, 

* See Note A. 



12 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



going to an hotel, and after a cup of tea took a 
stroll about the town, which at night is a very 
curious place, with its narrow streets and high 
houses, and anything but a respectable-looking 
population. 

1*7 th. We did about a dozen churches. The 
cathedral is very fine : saw the pictures, etc., 
and the Chapel of the Baptist, where his relics 
are kept in an iron-bound chest under the altar. 
Mrs. M. and the ladies were for coining in to see 
them also, but the sacristan would not allow 
them, it being forbidden for woman's foot to 
profane the sanctuary, on pain of having their 
heads chopped off, as Herodias did to John him- 
self. The finest, however, of all was L'Annun- 
ziata ; the gilding and marbles are magnificent. 
San Matteo is also worth seeing ; built of alter- 
nate layers of black and white marbles, covered 
with inscriptions recording the deeds of the 
Doria family, by whom it was built, and where 
a lot of them are lying. 

Near to this is the palace given to Andrea 
Doria by the republic, about which there is 
nothing remarkable. We drove round the town, 
and saw most, if not all, the outsides of the 
palaces, and made an attempt to see the Palazzo 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



13 



Keale, but could not, owing to some of the royal 
family being in it ; then the Pallavicini, in 
which there are a few good pictures, some pretty 
pieces of sewed-work by the present Marchese. 
We also saw the Palace Surazzo, in which are a 
few Vandykes, and a Venus and Adonis by 
Domenichino, which pleased me as well as any 
of the pictures of Genoa. About this time we 
dropt upon the Concordia, and as it is the best 
restaurant in Genoa, we put off half-an-hour 
there in a very agreeable manner, and then re- 
sumed our drive through the principal streets 
till dinner time, when we sat down at the table 
d'hote and had a very good dinner, and then 
went aboard the steamer again, where, for about 
two hours, from seven till nine o'clock, three girls 
played on the guitar and violin, and sung some 
beautiful airs, among others "God save the 
Queen" and "Home, sweet Home," the latter 
beautifully. They made sundry collections dur- 
ing the evening, and, as far as I could judge, 
with much success. 

After a tumbler of brandy and water hot, we 
turned in and awoke in the morning lying off 
Leghorn. 

18th. After breakfasting on board we landed, 



14 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



and finding there was nothing to see in Leg- 
horn, took a carriage and pair — being about as 
cheap and much more comfortable than the 
railway — and drove to Pisa. Took a guide 
whom we picked up at the cathedral; but, just 
as we were going in, from behind one of the 
corners there started out a figure about six feet 
high, clothed in a black glazed gown, a black 
mask closely fitting his face to the bottom of 
his cheeks, and then hung down loosely like a 
beard over his breast, his two eyes staring out 
something unearthly like ; in one hand he held 
a broad brimmed hat from 2\ to 3 feet across ; 
in the other a small oak box, on which was 
painted "Miserecordia." Half frightened I looked 
at the guide, who whispered, " Give him some- 
thing." Half frantically I gave him half-a-franc 
and passed on ; but in about a minute I turned 
round, but he had vanished as suddenly as he 
appeared. I thought I perceived a slight blue 
flame where he stood, but could not be certain. 
I asked the others if they saw anything strange, 
but they had no recollection, not yet having got 
over their fright We did not see a cloven foot 
nor any appearance of a caudal appendage ; but 
returning about half-an-hour afterwards, we felt 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



15 



the slightest taint of sulphur where he had dis- 
appeared. The cathedral is very fine, it has 
twenty-four marble pillars all different, and its 
mosaics are beautiful ; its bronze doors are also 
fine specimens. Then we w 7 ent to the baptistery, 
with its wonderful echo ; the sound is said to be 
repeated eleven times, and the last echo lasts one 
minute and fifty-three seconds. Service is only 
celebrated here twice a-year — St. John's days ; 
but baptisms are performed every day if neces- 
sary, and by immersion. A party who was 
before us saw r a child put in neck and crop. 
There are some mosaics here, ancient and mo- 
dern, very good. The pulpit is also magnificent, 
erected in 1260. Our next visit was to the 
Campo Santo, a quadrangular gallery erected in 
the twelfth century to receive fifty-three ships' 
loads of earth from Mount Calvary, brought 
away by the Christians when expelled from the 
Holy Land by Saladin. So, just to say I had 
been there, I took a turn over the Holy LaM. 

The Campo Santo is an open gallery 417 X 
138 feet, and 46 feet high. The corridors filled 
w r ith graves, or rather tomb-stones ; as, besides 
the monuments of those buried here, there are 
many belonging to those buried elsewhere. 



16 



A TKIP TO ROME. 



The walls are covered with what were once 
paintings by the great Tuscan masters, but they 
are saclly mutilated by time, and I suppose ex- 
posure to the air. There are also some antique 
statuary, and one or two very fine modern busts 
and monuments ; a good bust of Cavour, a 
fine monumental statue of Catalani, etc., etc. 
Our next visit was to the Leaning Tower, which 
we all ascended to the top. The view is said to 
be magnificent, but I could see nothing but a 
vast plain, and the hills in the distance — the 
Arno creeping lazily to the sea through a marshy 
plain ; indeed, it is the most worthless view I 
ever heard praised ; it is extensive enough, but 
no variety. One thing is curious about this 
place — viz. that when the Pisan vessels brought 
the holy earth it was then a seaport, and the 
vessels landed at the town, whereas I believe 
the nearest sea is now about twelve miles off. 
We got back to Leghorn in time for dinner, and 
afterwards went on board the steamer, and took 
one and turned in, the steamer being to sail at 
eleven p.m. Had a good sleep, and awoke about 
(19th.) 8 a.m., a stiff breeze blowing, and half 
the people sick. When I got on deck we were 
just passing Elba, the place of Napoleon L's 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



17 



first banishment — a thick disagreeable morning. 
I was very glad when they called us to break- 
fast, as that occupied about an hour and a half. 
It kept fair all day, with occasional glimpses of 
the sun, and so we got a sight of the coast now 
and then. I was much disappointed. It was 
very low for a long way inland. About dinner- 
time we came in sight of Mount Assumption, a 
very high mountain between Civita Vecchia 
and Naples, and shortly after the island of 
Ponza ; and then, standing a little more east, we 
began to pick out the lights upon the various 
islands at the entrance of the Bay of Naples. 
Vesuvius then came in sight, but being dark, 
and it in a quiet humour, we could but faintly 
make it out with its cluster of smoke on the top. 
At eleven o'clock p.m. we arrived at the Hotel des 
Etrangers, where I now sit. Before getting this 
length, however, we had a row with the boat- 
man who brought us ashore. We paid him a 
five-lire piece for the five of us, with which he 
was contented (exact fare) ; but an after-thought 
struck him, that, as strangers, he would do us, 
and thereupon he followed us to the quay and 
began an infernal row, saying he wanted more 
money. Of course we said no ; telling him in our 

c 



18 



A TEIP TO ROME. 



best Italian — having studied the sentence to be 
ready before leaving the steamer — that we were 
five, and had paid five lire, which was the fare. 
He then swore we had only paid for four (quatro) ; 
we said cinque (five). He got in such a passion 
that, having laughed at the fun for a time, 1 
also lost my temper ; and, having exhausted my 
Italian, and he not understanding French, I 
opened upon him till a crowd gathered, and 
didn't I pose him! I seized and ordered him 
(in English) to empty his pockets and show his 
money. I ordered all our folks into the cab 
which was waiting, and with a farewell d — n, 
jumped in myself and drove off. 

20th. I got up in the morning and took a short 
walk before breakfast, to see Vesuvius, and, under 
the circumstances, considered it a sell. It was just 
like Arthur's Seat as seen from Joppa on a fine 
spring morning, when the white mist sitting on 
the top reflects the just risen sun. From our 
windows the bay and the city were beautiful in 
the rising sun, the white houses skirting the 
bay having a fine pinky tinge from the sun's 
rays, and the blue waters glittering with the 
slight ripple caused by their rolling into the 
bay. After breakfast we strolled about, called 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



19 



on Dr. S . . . . ; he was out, but I left a card, and 
turned up the street St. Nardones, and lo and 
behold, coming down the same street, we met Mr. 
D. . . ., who had been here nine days, and who 
was to sail the same day for Corfu en route for 
Alexandria and the Pyramids. We adjourned to 
liquor, after which we went to the custom-house 
to get our baggage, which we could not get last 
night, Mr. D . . . . accompanying us. It was 
now one P.M., and in another hour he was to bid 
farewell to Naples. " Man proposes, God dis- 
poses/' He called in at the office where he had 
paid his passage-money, and told them he had 
met his friends for whom he had been waiting 
to go to Eome ; asked if they could give him 
back his money, and let him off, which they did 
in the most polite manner ; and now we have 
joined forces, and go on together to our mutual 
enjoyment. Through a friend of his our luggage 
was cleared, and sent to our hotel without any 
trouble on our part. Passing Dr. S . . . /s door, we 
called again, and had a glass or two of Marsala, 
which, as the clay was hot and dusty, proved 
very refreshing. We then did a drive along the 
Chiaja, saw the rank and fashion, and returned 
to the hotel to dinner when it got dark. 



20 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



21st We visited, in the forenoon, the museum, 
which, however, is still un catalogued, and only 
provisionally arranged. It is a glorious collec- 
tion, and I must give it one or two entire days 
if I can at all. The library, with its 200,000 
volumes, is a magnificent room, and at the due 
south point in the room is a small hole in the 
roof to allow the sun's rays to come in ; and on 
the floor is a stripe of brass to mark the meri- 
dian, on each side of which are marked the 
zodiacal signs corresponding to the months of 
the year — the summer on one side, the winter on 
the other, and the degrees marking the length 
of the sun's ray, or his altitude in the heavens ; 
I did not note particularly which. We then 
went to the post office to inquire for letters, and 
got none; the officials were very polite, asked 
our hotel, and told us if any came they would 
send them. By-the-bye, I wish you would send 
me the Weekly Scotsman, beginning with the 
13th February, or if that can't be had, the ones 
after. We heard yesterday of the death of Pro- 
fessor Strangeways ; he was an intimate friend 

of D 's as well as an acquaintance of my 

own. In the afternoon we took a couple of cabs, 
and drove out on the road to Pozzuoli — a beau- 



A TRIP TO HOME. 



21 



tiful drive, lined with villas, principally on the 
right hand ; every now and again the road over- 
hangs the bay. There are some Soman ruins on 
the way, but we had not time to stop at them, 
nor to go far enough to see the best of them. 
On returning we had a very fine view T of Vesu- 
vius, the smoke issuing from three very distinct 
places. The villages at the bottom, and the 
hermitage half up the hill, were all very distinct. 
After dinner we had a smoke, which brought us 
to half-past eight p.m., and, being Sunday, we did 
not go out again in deference to the ladies ; but, 
looking over the wine-carte to see if we could 
" summon spirits from the vasty deep/' we saw 
the chance of a bottle of L.L., and called the 
waiter, who looked first at us and then at the 
carte, and then descended to the cellar with an 
awfully doubtful-looking countenance, and re- 
turned in about a quarter of an hour — what a 
long quarter it was — with his face beaming, 
holding a bottle triumphantly in his hands, 
which proved to be the Simon Pure. Soon we 
had the hot water and sugar, and, lighting our 
cigars, it was not long before bedtime came and 
the lord-lieutenant w r ent. 

22rZ. Of all the sights that I have seen, Naples 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



to-day presented the most miserable. It rained 
the whole day, and a stiff breeze from the south- 
west brought with it what we look for as an 
east haar. The streets were gutters, and you 
could not see half across the bay ; the houses 
looked dingy and dirty, and the squalid, miser- 
able, drookit lazzaroni seemed the very picture 
of despair. The ladies never left the hotel ; 
once or twice they ventured on the balcony, only 
to be driven in again. 

We took a cab, trying to discover if it might 
be any better outside : went as far as the post- 
office, but it would not do ; it poured, and even 
the cab would not keep out the rain, so we had 
to return and solace ourselves smoking till bed- 
time. I forgot to mention, when at Genoa, tak- 
ing a walk along the promenade in front of the 
harbour, we saw, on looking over, a lot of fellows 
at their ablutions ; it was a queer sight, — some 
half-dozen men standing at each of the wells or 
fountains stripped to the waist — so long as their 
trousers stopped up as far, which was not always 
the case — scrubbing away at themselves, one 
occasionally helping the other. On one particu- 
lar occasion we called the attention of the ladies 
to a group of them, like so many athletes (un) 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



23 



dressed for the combat, and were rewarded by a 
punch in the ribs. 

2od. The day looks somewhat better, but it 
rained hard all night till six this morning. The 
sun is shining, but the wind is still from the 
southward, although not nearly so strong, and 
to windward it still looks cloudy. 

It has showered occasionally all day. Just 
before going out in the morning we were, as 
usual, serenaded by a number of lusty lazy-look- 
ing musicians, who, in addition, gave us a dance ; 
it was at first something like the slow movements 
of our reels. It was danced by two men setting 
to each other and going round ; and at last they 
turned their other ends to each other and set, 
their hips coming thwack against each other six 
or eight times. I began to think, however much 
the spectators enjoyed it, it must have been 
rather painful to the performers. 

We drove out to-day to see a church or two, 
and went first to San Martino on St. Elmo, the 
marbles in which are magnificent. The frescoes 
on the roof and the inlaid wood-work are also 
very fine. There are a number of beautiful 
paintings in the church, the chapels, choir, and 
sacristy, by some of the old masters, to describe 



24 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



which would be on my part a waste of time, not 
to mention the trouble. The cloisters are also 
fine, with their marble pillars, in the centre of 
which was the monks' cemetery. There are no 
monks ; Victor Emmanuel has turned all the lazy 
buffers about their business, having suppressed 
nearly all the monasteries, pensioning out with a 
small sum the present monks, but new ones must 
look out for themselves. There is also in the 
treasury of this church a rare collection of relics 
in the shape of bones, teeth, and other very 
interesting subjects, nicely arranged in glass 
cases. I at first thought it was the dentist's 
room of the establishment, but was rebuked, 
either for my ignorance or want of faith, I don't 
know which. Passing through the cloisters to 
the Belvidere, we had a magnificent view of the 
Bay, Vesuvius, and the country round, fairly 
making up for the toil to reach it. By the 
barometer, which we set at the bottom of the 
hill, it must be upwards of 700 feet high. I 
said we drove to it, but that was a figure of 
speech, as, before we had made one-third of the 
ascent, we had to leave the carriage and come 
out and walk. Had it not been for the honour 
of the thing, we should have saved the price of 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



25 



the cab ; however, we were very glad to get it 
coming down. 

Next we visited the Duomo or Cathedral, in 
which is the blood of St. Januarius, which, lique- 
fies occasionally — when the priests are in want 
of funds I suppose. This is also a magnificent 
church ; the paintings both on the roof's of the 
nave and transepts are very fine, as also those 
in the side chapels. There are also a number 
of fine marble tombs. The confessional of St. 
Januarius, under the altar, is also an elaborate 
piece of work, being entirely of marble, every 
bit of the walls and ceiling being carved. Here 
is a kneeling statue of Cardinal Carafa, who 
built it. The next church was St. Severo. This 
is a private chapel, or rather, I should think, 
a place of tombs. In it three beautiful pieces 
of statuary, one of an angel veiled, the veil en- 
tirely covering her, and the features, etc., being 
all distinctly seen through. There is also a 
man in a net, being loosed from it by a little 
angel ; and in a crypt at the side, below the 
chapel, a dead Christ with a sheet over him — 
a most exquisite piece of work. It is said that 
the Emperor of Eussia offered its weight in 
gold for this. 



26 



A TEIP TO ROME. 



In the evening we went to San Carlo, and saw 
first Marta, which was very well done, and after- 
wards Fiammella. This was entirely dumb show, 
but was very interesting. There was a magni- 
ficent and numerous ballet. The principal dan- 
seuse was the best dancer I ever saw ; her move- 
ments wonderful and graceful, and the stage 
tricks quite new. Sometimes she leapt from the 
floor to the top of a cabinet about feet high, 
continuing her dance all the time. Another 
time she went as if going out at a door, and 
when she came up to it, suddenly she went up 
the side of it, about 10 feet high, gave a kind of 
spring to the top of the cabinet, and from that 
to the floor. She was a kind of demon, luring 
a fellow doiun stairs, having a sprite as a fellow- 
worker ; and the old gentleman looked in oc- 
casionally to see how the work got on. We 
stayed till about twelve p.m., and got home 
somewhat wearied with our hard day's work. 

2A.th Monday and Tuesday had both been 
set apart for Pompeii, but the barometer forbade, 
and rightly too, for they turned out dirty days, 
as I have already mentioned ; but to-day was 
favourable, so we drove to it through Torre del 
Greco, a dirty kind of fishing- village, past the 



A TEIP TO ROME. 



27 



lava-quarries, through Torre dell' Annunziata, 
famed for flour-mills and maccaroni. With the 
latter the streets seemed lined all the way along, 
hung upon long sticks, much the same as yarn 
at a bleaching-place. "We reached Pompeii, 
a description of which you can get from the 
guide-book. To me it was the grandest sight I 
ever saw. I could almost fancy I saw the oil- 
merchant at his store, and the baker taking his 
blackened loaves (which are so well preserved) 
from the oven, or grinding that basin of grain 
still standing with these conical granite mill- 
stones which have stood still for 1800 years in 
the Forum. I stood to see the gladiators and 
the lions in combat, and went to the baths like 
an ancient Pompeiian after the excitement, and 
passed over to the restaurant opposite, and like 
him to have my nip ; but here the spell was 
broken ; no nip to be had ; the amphorae were 
there, but the liquor was gone. 

Ladies not being allowed, I was next shown 
a queer place, with beautiful pictures over the 
doors of the sleeping apartments, graphically 
showing the modi operandi ; and the seat for 
the old witch who collected the rhino. After a 



28 



A TEIP TO ROME. 



bottle or two of Capri, we drove home, all greatly 
delighted with our trip. 

2Zth Nothing to-day worth mentioning ; 
looked into one or two churches, and walked to 
the new pier which is being erected, I think for 
a custom-house one, as they are awfully parti- 
cular here about smuggling, which, from the 
precautions taken against it, must be very com- 
mon. Indeed, Dr. S . . . . was quite astonished 
that Mr. D . . . . had brought on shore about 
half-a-pound of tobacco, and I myself fifty Ha- 
vanas — a thing he never had heard of since he 
came here about ten years ago ; and this was 
fully endorsed, at the breakfast-table yesterday, 
by a gentleman who had arrived from India, 
and had about seventy or eighty cigars with 
him, for which he was detained a considerable 
time, and his cigars made the subject of a violent 
discussion between several cocked-hatted indivi- 
duals, which ended in their giving him a dozen 
away with him, and he has to make a claim and 
see what he must pay for the others. 

27th. Drove out through the Grotto of Posi- 
lippo, a long tunnel through the tufa rocks. It 
is 2240 feet long, and varies from 23 to 90 feet 
high ; breadth, 24 to 30 feet. It is said, on the 



A TEIP TO ROME. 



29 



authority of Seneca and Petronius, to have been 
executed under Nero as a near cut to Pozzuoli, 
but was then a narrow and gloomy pass. It 
is now dimly lighted by forty-two gas-lamps. 
Driving on, we passed the great lava- quarries, 
worked by the galley-slaves, all assassins I be- 
lieve, who are kept at work by a lot of soldiers 
with breech-loaders. They are in red shirts, 
and their prison is painted red in reference to 
their crime — at least so it is said. Eeached 
Pozzuoli, where we picked up a very intelli- 
gent guide. This Pozzuoli is a quiet episcopal 
town, chiefly inhabited by fishermen, and no- 
wise celebrated for cleanliness ; here we bought 
torches. There is here an ancient pier, being 
part of a bridge of which about thirteen but- 
tresses are yet to be seen, built by Caligula to 
Baiae, right across the bay. Near by we visited 
the half-extinct volcano of Solfatara ; why they 
say half-extinct I don't know, as the whole of the 
base of the crater, for an acre or two, is covered 
with jets of steam ; and at one place there is an 
orifice like a baker's oven, from which con- 
stantly pours out a large stream of sulphurous 
steam, and from which, with an iron rake, was 
dragged out, and presented to us, a bit of red- 



30 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



hot lava encrusted with sulphur. I made a 
small volcano for myself ; seeing a jet of steam 
or smoke, such as you may see when you throw 
away your finished cigar, I bored a hole with a 
bit of stick I found, and soon I had a jet like 
what comes from the spout of a boiling kettle. 
The whole ground seems quite hollow beneath, 
and the guide takes up a large stone and throws 
it on the ground, which gives forth a boss sound. 
Next we visited the amphitheatre, much larger 
than that at Pompeii, being seated for 45,000, 
the arena 336 feet X 138 feet, and which could be 
laid under water for naval combats. It is a won- 
derful sight, with its subterranean passages, and 
places for keeping wild beasts, gladiators, etc., 
which were brought up by machinery. Then 
we passed to the temple of Serapis. This is 
very curious from the fact that the pillars, still 
standing, at about 5 feet up are pierced by some 
marine worms, showing that at one time they 
had been under the sea, So either the sea has 
retired 20 feet, or the land has risen 20 feet. 
Here are several of the ancient tanks, or baths, 
still existing, one of which was very warm, 
heated from the neighbouring volcano of Solfa- 
tara. Another was pointed out as being good for 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



31 



sore eyes ; and, by paying, you can get a bath of 
the thermal water in a well-fitted up modern bath. 

Getting into our carriage again, the drive 
along the shore was beautiful — Ischia, Procida, 
and Nesida, islands beautifully situated in the 
bay — before us Baise, etc. We reached the lake 
Lucrine, celebrated in ancient times for its 
oysters, now for a small fish much esteemed at 
Naples. Then we reached Lake Avernus, and 
the Grotto of the Cumsean Sybil, in which is 
the entrance to the infernal regions. Before 
entering, we lighted three of our torches, and, 
with six men (one for each) to carry us, went 
in ; after a longish walk, we were pointed to a 
narrow entrance on the right, through which we 
passed; and, having descended about a dozen 
paces, we mounted our bipeds, and were carried 
through the waters from one room to another 
— one the Sybil's bath, one her couch, in each of 
which we dismounted to hear the guide's de- 
scription. In the last we saw a marble statue of 
the Sybil; returning, another square chamber 
was pointed out as the entrance to the infernal 
regions, down which Virgil went ; but as there 
were no return tickets, we did not go, but instead 
drove on to Cumse, where, in another sub- 



32 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



terranean tunnel, we came to Nero's Baths. 
Again we lighted torches, but this time it was 
too hot for us. I gave it up at twenty yards or 
so, and came out perspiring very freely. A little 
fellow got an egg, and, stripped to the skin, 
darted in with a wooden pail, and in some 
minutes came out with his dark olive skin like 
as if he had been dipped in oil, the sweat run- 
ning down from every part of his body. I was 
sorry for the poor fellow. In his hand was the 
pail, half full of water, and our egg boiled. So 
much for volcanic agency. Some day 1 believe 
it will tumble bodily — I mean the whole 
country — into the infernal regions. Here also 
we saw what some call the Temple of Apollo, 
and some baths, and a temple of Pluto 
and Mercury. Passing from Cumae, we pass 
numerous ancient fragments of walls, passages, 
etc., in the side of the hill, all but buried in 
lava. Baiae was a celebrated place in the times 
of Cicero, Nero, Augustus, Hadrian, all of whom 
had their villas here, of which there are some 
remains. Here also is the temple of Diana, in 
which, if you whisper on one side, your friends 
can hear distinctly on the other — a whispering- 
gallery kind of place in short. Then the temple 



A TRTP TO ROME. 



33 



of Venus, now turned into a boatbuilder's shed. 
Ye Gods, what profanation ! Passing along by 
the castle of Baiae, and through lots of ruins, 
we reach Nero's prisons, subterranean vaults of 
the gloomiest description, where we had to do 
torches again. Farther on we reach the Julian 
Aqueduct, or what is left of it, and the Piscina 
Mirabilis, or great reservoir, dug in the tufa 
rock for receiving the water from the aqueduct, 
which was to supply the Eoman fleet which lay 
at Misenum close by. It is supposed to have 
been built by Agrippa. It is 220 feet x 85 feet, 
and has a vaulted roof, supported by forty-eight 
pillars arranged in four rows. It is a wonderful 
place, and well worth the attention of the Water 
Company. I wish I had Bryce here to tell me 
lots of things, and explain others, especially the 
fragments of buildings which everybody says 
were for a different purpose. The view from here 
was very extensive and lovely. It was about 
four o'clock, and the sun shone brightly and 
golden on the hills around, dotted with white 
painted villas, cottages, and ruined temples, etc., 
whitened with age — Vesuvius in the distance, 
looking more like a volcano than I have yet 
seen it. Returning home, we stopped again at 

D 



34 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



Baiae, and had lunch at the Hotel, a classic 
lunch of the far-famed oysters of the bay, and 
a bottle or two of Falernian ; but the ancient 
classical did not suffice, so we pitched into 
maccaroni with cheese, and more Falernian; 
finished up with oranges and lighting our cigars ; 
had a jolly drive home, and finished one of the 
most interesting and enjoyable days we have 
had, some thinking Pompeii outdone. 

28£A. Walked through a few more churches, 
in which nothing remarkable, all busy at service. 
The best was St. Francesco de Paolo, opposite 
the palace; it is an imitation of the Eoman 
Pantheon. There are thirty beautiful Corinthian 
columns of marble supporting the dome. The 
altar is inlaid entirely with lapis lazuli and 
jasper; the two pillars at the sides of Egyptian 
brescia said to be very rare. There are some 
good copies of pictures, and six statues in 
marble, very fine, but quite modern. An in- 
spection of the military was going on outside, 
« 

which we saw ; but unless to say you saw a lot 
of sogers, it was not worth seeing. The weather 
is quite changed, and all our doors and windows 
shut, and a fire on. One thing they seem to 
admit duty free, and that was a jolly Scotch 



A TRIP TO HOME. 



35 



mist, as thick and wetting as ever graces Auld 
Reekie herself. The ladies had to keep the 
house all day. After dinner I went to the door 
to do a cigar, but was glad to get in again; 
could scarcely keep my feet. 

1st March. To-day it was arranged to go up to 
Vesuvius in the afternoon, and remain on the top 
till midnight, when the crater is seen to most 
advantage, — Dr. S .... to head the party. But, 
alas ! the top of the mountain was covered with 
snow, and all the hills to the east (the Apennines) 
quite white ; so we had to give it up, S . . . . 
telling us it would be the death of us to 
attempt it, as we had no idea of the cold that 
comes from these snow-clad hills. Visited the 
Palace of Capo di Monte, in which there is a 
fine collection of armour, beautifully kept and 
arranged : the weapons go as far back as bows 
and arrows, and end with breech-loaders. There 
are also some good bronzes, especially a group 
of the Muses and attendants — about 4 feet 
across and 20 inches high. The figures are 
numerous — I think between twenty and thirty, 
each about 12 inches high. There are also two 
very fine groups, one of alabaster and one of 
biscuit-china. The first, " Jupiter overthrowing 



36 



A TKIP TO ROME. 



the Titans," — the Titans I think better than Ju- 
piter ; he looks stagey. The other is "Aurora/' 
and is really a pretty thing, not unlike the pic- 
ture of the Eoyal Academy, I think. Aurora 
drives her two-horse car, and is surrounded by 
the hours and cupids holding garlands of flowers, 
dropping them by the way. The group is about 
4 or 5 feet long, by 3 feet broad, and the figures 
about 8 inches high. There is a considerable 
collection of pictures of no great worth. There 
is a boudoir fitted up either with china orna- 
ments or imitation, or both — something in the 
Watteau style ; it is very curious and the orna- 
mentation funny. The view from the grounds 
is good. Drove home to dinner. 

2d. To-day we had a lot more churches, the 
best of which were L'Incoronata, St. Philip Neri, 
and the Santa Chiara, the latter celebrated as 
the burial-place of the Bourbons, and for a fine 
monument to the founder, Robert the Wise, The 
bell-tower is detached from the church, indeed 
there is a street between them. St. Philip's was, 
however, the best and richest. In one of the 
side chapels were a lot of boxes containing relics 
of saints, etc. There are also some fine paint- 
ings in the sacristy ; and in the crypt were two 



A TEIP TO ROME, 



37 



fine bas-reliefs in marble, but it was too dark to 
see them well. There was also a " Madonna " 
in a glass case, with a string of pearls and dia- 
monds, and crucifix of the same lying in her lap, 
as well as other offerings, which I hope she ap- 
preciates. A lamp burned before her, but I 
really forget what I saw here, as there is a 
muddle of churches in my brain. I have seen 
no painted glass in Naples worth looking at. 
Adjourned to the Cafe Grande and had lunch, 
and then home just in time to save ourselves 
from the wind and rain, which continued till 
near midnight, when the rain ceased and the 
wind increased to a hurricane, with a most ter- 
rific thunder-storm accompanied by brilliant 
flashes of lightning. I thought the front of the 
house was to be blown in. 

3d. The morning quiet, but a heavy ground- 
swell in the bay. Did nothing particular ; a 
stroll on the promenade and packing. Fleas are, 
I am told, particularly abundant ; so are other 
gentry of the same obliging kind, who take up 
their abode without by or with your leave. 
Going about the streets, you see the women 
plunging their hands into their breasts picking — 
I should not say picking but gathering — them, 



38 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



and the dirty b s throwing them on the 

streets alive, for the benefit of the next passers 
by ; then yon see them with the children's heads 
in their laps, performing the same operation of 
catching alive. The inhabitants are a dirty, lazy, 
lousy set of beggarly wretches — that disposes of 
them. 

I was much amused this morning, when ask- 
ing the waiter (a Jew), who speaks English, the 
relationship of a couple between whom there 
might be a difference of twenty or twenty-five 
years in their ages, when he replied, a They are 
spouses ; they are doing their breeding here, vat 
you call their honeymoon. 

4th. Left Naples at 10.45 a.m. The scenery 
on this road was fine, in some places grand : the 
Apennines covered with snow, and the nearer 
limestone and tufa mountains with their bare 
heads and light coloured water-courses, their 
picturesque cities and old castles, sometimes 
perched on the pinnacle of a hill, sometimes 
half-hidden in a cleft between two hills, sur- 
rounded by their mediaeval w r alls ; in the after- 
noon especially, when a particularly fine yellow 
tint was thrown upon them by the rays of the 
sun reflected from the snowy heights above. 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



39 



We were twice pestered having our luggage ex- 
amined — the smaller things at Ceprano, the 
larger at Koine — but it was done quite gentle- 
manly ; it detained us, however, nearly three- 
quarters of an hour. When we arrived at Borne, 
wdiich was at eight p.m. (about seven at the 
station), we went to the Hotel du Globe, of which 
more anon. 

5th. Strolled about the eternal city taking a 
general survey of the place, as we are to do no 
sight-seeing, in the serious sense of the word, 
till Monday. Strolling up the Via Condotti in 
the afternoon, we met Mrs. H . . . ., and she 
pointed out to me Mr. M'Pherson, who was driv- 
ing past. I had just mentioned to her I was 
going to call on him. I hailed his cab, and de- 
livered your note ; he was glad to see me, and, 
after a short crack on the street, he told me his 
wife was going out, but he would be glad to see 
me, and smoke a cigar with a friend or two 
whom he expected in the evening. After a walk 
on the Pincio, went home to dinner : the day 
was piercingly cold. After dinner, about eight 
p.m. (we dined at half-past six o'clock), I sent 
for a cab, but, after waiting for nearly three- 
quarters of an hour, not being able to get one, I 



40 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



sat down and had a tumbler, as it was now too 
late to go to M'Pherson's. 

6th. Called on him in the forenoon, and had 
a glass and bit oatmeal cake. Mrs. M. was not 
downstairs, so did not see her. He and I took 
a look at a place or two for private lodgings, but 
none of them came up to the mark save one, but 
fearing it was not in a very nice place, took time 
to consider. The day was cold, rainy, and snow- 
ing, so the ladies had the pleasure of staying in 
the house all day,, and I of getting myself wet 
doing my smoke. 

7th. Took a look at a lot of churches and the 
Farnese Palace, and finished with St. Peter's, 
which I must go back and see. 

8th. Passing St. Eocca to-day, and seeing a 
great crowd, went in and found the church all 
draped with black, the altar hid by a black 
screen with a gold cross of colossal size. The 
archbishop, also in black, sitting on his throne, 
and on the altar a lot of lighted candles, the 
nave of the church laid out as if for a funeral ; 
but no funeral, and all round the people held in 
their hands burning candles, and the bishop oc- 
casionally rose, made a sign, seemed to bless the 
thurible, and sprinkled the place before him 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



41 



with holy water from a silver thing like the 
round rose of a watering-pan, and afterwards he 
pronounced the blessing; but he had scarcely 
left the altar before acolytes (I think they call 
them) blew out the lights, just as they do the 
gas in a theatre when the curtain falls ; this 
quite put away my solemn feelings. 

Taking a stroll along the Via Eipetta in the 
afternoon, I reached the Piazza del Popolo, and 
as I was just turning to go into a church, I saw 
a cavalry officer riding past at a hard trot, and, 
behind him about 100 yards, another with a 
drawn sword, and behind him another of the 
same ; then came a dozen of dragoons, followed 
by a carriage-and-four in gay gilt trappings, and 
in it his Holiness. I took off my hat to the old 
gentleman : he is a kindly -looking old chap. He 
returned my salute, or, what's the same thing, 
gave his blessing with his two outstretched 
fingers to the people, who all kneeled on the 
ground as he passed. The carriage was followed 
by a troop of dragoons as a body-guard. 

9th. I think I forgot to mention, w T hen I told 
you about leaving Naples, that Messrs. D . . . . 
and S. . . ., the latter by the especial orders of 
his medical advisers, were to go to Alexandria, 



42 



A TRIP TO . ROME. 



and on to Cairo, etc. I had a letter yesterday 
saying they were to sail on Saturday evening. 
We miss them much, as we had great fun. 
D . . . ., acting as chancellor of the exchequer, 
kept the strings very tight ; his rows with coach- 
men and others were most amusing, as he under- 
stood not a word they said, and they understood 
him just as much, but there they stood colly- 
shanging at each other for no end of time ; 
D . . . . always had the best of it, gave them 
what he thought was right, a good swearing to 
the bargain, and walked off. 

We did a few more churches, and also some 
fountains, a look at the baths of Diocletian, which 
in their pristine glory must have been very re- 
markable, not only for their extent but also their 
size, as one of the arches is sufficient to contain 
the church of St. Maria degli Angeli, no small 
church among the churches of Borne ; it is 
being highly ornamented by the present Pope, 
who has laid the floor of the right (as you go in) 
transept with various coloured marbles in beau- 
tiful designs. On the floor of the nave the 
meridian is laid down, and on it, or rather along- 
side of it, the signs of the zodiac, in the same 
manner as on the floor of the library at Naples. 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



43 



10 th. To-day it may be said that we have 
commenced sight-seeing here. St. Cecilia in 
Trastavere, our first place, — the altar of parti- 
coloured marble dates from 1263, and is con- 
sidered very beautiful, and I daresay it is, looked 
at by itself ; but, when you have seen so many 
at same time, you begin to think that " Caesar 
and Pompey are very much alike, especially 
Pompey!" There is a curious chandelier here, a 
kind of spiral pillar about 5 feet high, of white 
marble inlaid in mosaic, whether of bits of gold 
or gilt I don't know, as they objected to my pick- 
ing them out to see ; it is called a " chandelier 
pascal/' The mosaics on the roof of what I call 
the semi-dome of the high altar are truly grand, 
and perhaps the largest I have yet seen, repre- 
senting, full size, our Saviour and six other 
figures, and a string of upwards of a dozen sheep 
under them. There is also a long inscription, 
for which, as I did not read it, I refer you to the 
guide-book. There is also a recumbent statue 
of St. Cecilia, of which I neither like the design 
nor execution, and am therefore a Goth. What 
I liked best here was the Saints' Bath, as it 
is an ancient bath, and shows how the hot and 
cold water was introduced into them ; it also 



44 



A TKIP TO ROME. 



shows the mode of their vapour-baths. I may 
mention that the bath is now a side chapel, and 
must have been a large bath-room, with all the 
appliances of a cold, hot, and vapour bath, with 
a cooling-room such as the old Eomans had in 
the time of the persecution. The vapour-bath 
(says the guide) was used for the martyrdom of 
the Christians by suffocating them. Next we 
visited the church of St. Maria in Ara Cceli. 
This dates from 985, or at least was then 
existing. It stands on the Capitoline, and 
derives its name from the story that Augustus 
erected an altar here, inscribed Ara Primo- 
geniti Dei, to our Saviour. There are some fres- 
coes here in good preservation, of which copies 
were made in mosaic some hundreds of years 
ago, and are to be seen somewhere ; Mr. Ei- 
viere, an artist here, told us of them, and said 
the mosaics preserved the original colours, and 
this would give us a good idea of what the 
ancient frescoes were, now that their colours 
were being lost, but not having seen the mosaics 
yet, can't say. Coming down from here, we 
arrive at Piazza del Campodoglio, the Capitol of 
old Eome, saved in ancient times by the cack- 
ling of geese, and preserved in much the same 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



45 



manner now. At the foot of the stair leading 
up to it are two Egyptian lions, from whose 
mouths proceed jets of water, and on the top the 
fine marble groups of the horse-tamers ; and on 
the Place, to the right and left, are the trophies 
of Marius — at least so they say. The Place is 
surrounded on three sides by handsome build- 
ings, that in front being the Palace of the 
Senator, containing the municipal offices and 
observatory ; over the front is a statue of Eome 
— a very fine thing — and on each side of her two 
sitting statues, very large, with water- jars under 
their arms, representing the Nile and the Tiber. 
In front of the building is an equestrian statue 
of M. Aurelius, popularly called after Constan- 
tine, as they drag everything in to have a religious 
signification. On the right is a gallery, which 
we got into by accident, or a franc or two, where 
there are some large frescoes of ancient historical 
subjects, some fine marble statues of Popes, fine 
antique busts, groups, etc.,* white heads and red 
marble drapery, a few good bronzes, and a grand 
ancient bronze with white marble eyes. One of 
the marble busts is the original from which my 

* Among these is a very fine one of Romulus and Remus 
suckled by the wolf. 



46 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



stucco bust of Socrates you painted for me is 
taken. There is here also a fine roomful of 
tapestry in good condition, fine inlaid marble 
tables, and the oak panels in the doors are 
finely carved in alto-relievo. 

The building on the left is the Capitoline 
Museum, but was just closing as we got to the 
door. After seeing the Tarpeian Bock, we de- 
scended the stairs, seeing the Temple of Saturn, 
with its eight old columns ; that of Vespasian 
with its three ; the Arch of Severus ; the Por- 
tico of the Twelve Gods ; the Column of Phocas ; 
and the Temple of Castor and Pollux, also with 
three columns ; the old Temple of Faustina, 
transformed into a church. Opposite is the Ba- 
silica Julia, the Eegia, and behind it the Temple 
of Vesta, half-spoiled by a church stuck in 
before them — St. Maria Liberatrice ; then we 
come to the colossal arches of the Basilica of 
Constantine. The vaults are enormous, and 
seem to be as high as St. Peter's (not the dome) ; 
then we reach the Arch of Titus, the Coliseum, 
and the Arch of Constantine, etc. ; but we stop- 
ped here, as it was getting dark, and got home 
to dinner. 

11th. During the night we had a dreadful 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



47 



thunder-storm, with rain and hail, such as is 
not remembered ever to have been seen here 
before. The rain came down in torrents, and 
the street opposite our hotel-door was six or 
eight inches deep at the sides, and we were told 
that at the Pantheon it would be at least three 
feet deep. The hail was like small marbles, and 
it was with difficulty that we could leave our 
hotel, and this we were obliged to, as we have 
taken a suite of rooms immediately opposite, as 
we were far from comfortable in it, and could 
get no place to ourselves, the house being full 
of Yankees, who chattered like monkeys. Now, 
in addition to our bedrooms, we have a fine 
saloon, with piano, three side-tables, three sofas, 
about a dozen and a half chairs, a fine fire, etc., 
and everything nice. 

A gentleman who left the Hotel de Eoma last 
night says the prices are fearful just now. He 
went one night with his wife and daughter, 
stayed all night, had a chop each to their tea, 
and their breakfast in the morning, and then 
left and had to pay 100 francs — £4 for the three. 
At the Hotel de Eussie things seem even worse, 
and the party of three were charged 150 francs 
for a night ; one item being a roll, 50 cents. 



48 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



12th. Eeturned to the Coliseum, but en 
route visited the Eotoncle, said to be the only 
edifice in Eome come down entire from the 
ancients, having been built by Agrippa 27 
B.C. It gives a magnificent idea of what these 
temples were. Its portico of sixteen Corin- 
thian pillars, about 40 feet high, is noble 
now, but what must it have been when the 
five steps now sunk were above the ground? 
and judging from the baths of Agrippa, along- 
side of it, they must have added about 8 or 
10 feet to its height ; but the inside, with its 
open roof, its lofty dome, the marble pillars, all 
make one regret the Christianising of it, and the 
carrying off the ancient gods from their niches, 
and putting their confounded saints into them. 
Here lie, among others, the remains of Eaphael, 
buried in 1520, and who got a new coffin in 
1833 — (there are not many furnished with a 
new coat after being 300 years buried). Annibal 
Caracci and a few other great painters are also 
interred here. Passing from this, we entered 
the Piazza della Minerva, where is an obelisk 
standing on the top of an elephant, not worth 
seeing, except that the obelisk is one of two 
brought from the temple of Isis. I forgot to 



A TEIP TO ROME. 



49 



mention a good inscription in the Pantheon 
(Eotonde), " What the Barbarians did not the 
Barberini did referring to a blackguard pope 
of that name (Urban VIII.), who stripped the 
bronze from the temple to make columns for the 
tabernacle of St. Peter, and cannons for St. 
Angelo. St. Maria sopra Minerva was our next 
place. It is a very magnificent church, divided 
into three naves by magnificent marble pillars. 
Here are also some of the finest and largest 
monuments I have } r et seen. At the back of 
the altar are three very good painted windows. 
They seem quite modern, but I could not get a 
good view, as there was service going on. We 
are now at the Coliseum, and get up as high as 
we can, and have a beautiful view to the south 
and west — almost all ancient Eome spread out 
like a map below us, the Tiber rolling quietly 
on to the sea, and the Apennines covered with 
snow. It was somewhat windy, so we did not 
stay long on the top, although we spent a good 
deal of time walking round the various galleries, 
examining the surrounding country, as well 
as the details of the circus itself ; then to the 
baths of Titus and palace of Nero — very curious, 
and they must have been very extensive ; but, 

E 



50 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



as they are not half excavated, I will say no 
more about them at present. Going along, we 
pass the only three pillars which remain of the 
temple of Mars Ultor, on the Forum of Augustus. 
They are fine Corinthians, and beautifully pro- 
portioned. Passing under an ancient arch (Pan- 
tanus), we reach the Forum of Trajan, w T ith his 
pillar in the centre, on which formerly stood his 
statue, but which had to make way for St. 
Peter. The column is covered with bas-reliefs of 
his victories over the Dacians, running spirally 
from the bottom to the top. I forgot to men- 
tion the remains of a temple of Minerva which 
we passed, consisting of two pillars sticking in 
a wall, and half buried in the ground, sur- 
mounted by a statue of the goddess. I shall 
say nothing of the Forum, as it is so well known 
to you, and, with the exception of its four rows of 
broken pillars, offers nothing remarkable. "Wend- 
ing our way along, we dropped into St. Mark's, 
half buried in the Venetian palace. There are 
some fine old mosaics here, and the floor of the 
tribune is of Alexandrian pavement. 45 " One or two 
good pictures. In the vestibule are some sarco- 
phagi, and inscriptions of the ancient Christians, 

* Opus Alexandrinum. 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



51 



etc. Going to dinner, we saw again the Pope 
driving, as I formerly described, and distributing 
his blessing to the kneeling devotees. 

13th. Through the Porto Pia, and visited the 
church of St. Agnes, restored by the present 
pope, who, after celebrating mass in it in 1853, 
went into an adjoining room, the flooring of 
which gave way, and he and the rest of them 
fell into a cave beneath. A daub of a fresco 
commemorates this — the badness of the design 
only equalled by the execution. There are some 
fine marble pillars in the church, and the taber- 
nacle is supported by four beautiful columns 
of porphyry ; a good mosaic of St. Agnes, and 
an old episcopal throne. The entrance to this 
church is by a stair of forty-five marble steps. 
On both sides in the walls are imbedded inscrip- 
tions taken from the catacombs beneath ; they 
are not very ancient. In the same inclosure is 
the church of St. Costanza. This is a very old 
church built by Constantine, the father of the 
saint. It contains some mosaics of the fourth 
century, very curious, showing the whole process 
of wine-making. There are also some modern 
mosaics. We now went to the palace of Eospig- 
liosi, where there are a few good paintings, includ- 



52 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



ing Guido's masterpiece on the ceiling, the " Au- 
rora sowing Flowers before the Car of the Sun." 
The others we could scarcely see for the crowd. 
There were also four or fiye artists copying Au- 
rora, and they with their canvases took up the en- 
trance and one half the room. In the garden are 
a number of very fine small statues in marble. 
The arch of Janus, the double-faced god, was our 
next place. It is an arch (double) open at the 
four sides, very ancient. It had (they say) 
another storey, which might have been an ex- 
change. Opposite is the Goldsmith's Arch, ad- 
joining the church of St. Velabrius; the church 
not worth seeing. The arch is covered with sculp- 
tures, but of no great taste ; they are coarse. To 
show we do not confine ourselves to churches, 
temples, or triumphal arches, we visited the 
Cloaca Maxima, or great common sewer, com- 
mon to both ancient and modern Eome, having 
now lasted for thousands of years. Then we 
went to the church of St. Maria in Cosmedin, 
or the Bocca della Verita, where the ancient 
Eomans placed their hands when they swore ; I 
put in my hand and said, D — n it ! The church 
is supposed to be built on the site of the temple 
of the Three Gods (Bacchus, Ceres, and Libera), 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



53 



the ancient pillars of which are built in the walls ; 
the temple dates back to 497 B.C., the church a.d. 
300 or 400. The Campanile dates from Adrian, 
and is the finest I have seen here. The floor of 
the church is beautiful Alexandrian marqueterie. 
From here we have a fine view of the temple 
(a round one, with twenty pillars on the outside 
supporting the roof), some say of Hercules and 
some Vesta. We now pass the place where all 
the marble is sold, and on to the Porto St. Paolo, 
passing near the Pyramid of Cestius, and the 
Mount Testaccio, the former a tomb, and the 
latter nobody knows ; it is composed of broken 
pottery, and is upwards of 200 feet in height. 
St. Paul, beyond the walls, is our next place, and 
I am not sure but for richness it surpasses St. 
Peter's. It has five naves supported by eighty 
pillars of granite from Mont Simplon, and there 
are two beautiful ones of alabaster — one on each 
side of the entrance-gate (of beautiful bronze) — 
presented by the late Viceroy of Egypt to Gre- 
gory XVI. They have put in painted windows, 
which in themselves are very good ; but I am 
told they spoil the effect of the church, as the 
floor is of the finest polished marble, and when 
the clear light came in, the pillars and pictures 



54 



A TEIP TO SOME. 



were reflected as from a great depth of pure 
water. There are also good statues in marble, 
and portraits of (all) the popes in mosaic, as 
genuine as those of the Scotch kings in Holy- 
rood. A monk took me through the cloisters, 
where no ladies are admitted, so they had to 
look through the gate ; but the monk left the 
key in the door, so as they did not get in ; they 
locked the door, however, and walked off with the 
key, to the great diversion of the monk. He was 
very well pleased with the trifle I gave him, and 
he allowed me to take some roots of violets from 
the garden, and opened a chapel for us which is 
generally kept shut; but I am quite confused 
with churches and chapels, and really they all 
so run into each other in my mind that I cannot 
keep their details separate. We went still 
farther out to the Abbey of the Three Fountains, 
the place where St. Paul was beheaded. It is 
said when the head was struck off, it made three 
bounds on the ground, and three fountains 
sprung up in the places. It is being entirely 
re-decorated, and three altars are up in white 
and red marble — on the lower part of each a re- 
presentation of the head of the apostle. This is 
not worth coming to see. Eeturning to the walls, 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



55 



we take the Appian Way by the Porto St. Sebas- 
tiano and Porto Latina, the latter shut up, past 
the baths of Caracalla to the church of "Domine, 
quo Vadis?" where, on a slab of white marble, is 
shown the imprint of our Saviour's feet. All 
the churches here require some faith, this one 
quite as much as most. It is said to derive its 
name from St. Peter running away from Eome 
to escape being martyred, and meeting the 
Saviour and asking him, a Lord, whither goest 
thou?" was answered, "I go to Eome to be cru- 
cified anew/' whereupon Peter, being ashamed, 
went back to his death. Farther on we came 
to St. Sebastian, where we went down to the 
catacombs. They are not by any means the 
best in Eome, but quite enough to give one a 
general idea. They are deep caves extending a 
long way in the form of galleries, on each side 
of which are shelves large enough to contain the 
body, on which being deposited they were built 
up. Sometimes it was a small chamber for 
family use, one of which we saw with two large 
shelves for the father and mother, and three 
smaller ones for their children. There is nothing 
in the church. Next comes the Circus of 
Maxentius, where the chariot-races took place. 



56 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



It is built after a knowing dodge, with a peculiar 
bend, so that the inside started chariot should 
have no advantage in a short turn, but have as 
long a run as his less favoured compeers. The 
Tomb of Csecilia Metella, a round one about 80 
feet in diameter round the top, on which is a 
frieze of flowers and bull's head. It has been two 
or three times used as a fortress. The Casale 
Eotondo, a large sepulchre of the time of 
Augustus. A fine view is said to be got from 
here, but we did not trouble it, but went along 
the Appian Way a few miles farther, both sides 
of which are lined with tombs and fine frag- 
ments of sculptured marble. We then returned 
home, after a seven hours' drive, quite ready for 
dinner, at seven p.m. In our absence Dr. G . . . . 
and his lady called and left their cards. I for- 
got to mention, I think, that Mr. Macpherson 
came up on Friday evening and did a cigar and 
tumbler with us. I could give you a good deal 
of amusement of artists' jealousies, but I will 
keep that till I come home as " Scripta manet." 

lAth. Went to the Scotch church, and then to 
St. J ohn Lateran, which is a very fine one, and 
of which the Pope is parish priest I believe, then 
to the Scala Santa and saw the devotees crawl- 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



57 



ing up on their knees. It is a stair of twenty- 
eight marble steps, brought from the palace of 
Pontius Pilate, and said to be that which our 
Saviour descended on his way to be crucified. At 
the top is an image of Him, said to be by St. Luke, 
but being a heretic I did not get up to see it. 5 " 

We went now to the St. Croce in J erusalem, 
a very ancient church containing some relics 
which we did not see, among others the inscrip- 
tion which was upon the cross found by the 
Empress Helena some 400 years after the cruci- 
fixion : she made some wonderful discoveries 
this woman. We went out the Via Latina and 
saw the tombs recently excavated, one of which 
has two beautiful Corinthian pillars above 
ground ; and below, down a good flight of stairs, 
we enter a large chamber, in the walls of which 
are the tombs, one of them, a beautiful sarcopha- 
gus in white marble, as fresh almost as when it 
left the sculptor s hands. The roof of the cham- 
ber is painted in fresco, very pretty, and some 
beautiful stucco casts. The same may be said 
of the chamber adjoining, only they are fresher 
and the colours quite bright, but are being 
spoiled by the smoke from the guides' candles. 

* Note B. 



58 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



In the centre of this chamber is a large sarco- 
phagus of white marble. A large hole has been 
made in the end of it, and, by putting a lighted 
candle into it, you can see reposing side by side 
a male and female skeleton fallen to pieces, but 
the skull and bones are all lying quite naturally : 
think of them being laid there some 2000 years 
ago, and closed up in darkness till now. The 
two sides of this road, like the Appian Way, are 
lined with the remains of tombs. Just opposite 
the tomb last mentioned are the ruins of an old 
basilica, to get to which was no easy matter, as 
we had to squeeze through a narrow passage 
just large enough to get through ; except the 
antiquity there is not much to interest one, ex- 
cept to an architect, the whole of the substruc- 
ture being visible. Having had four hours' sit- 
ting in an open carriage, we went home, as it 
became suddenly cold, and we got hungry. 

loth. To-day we did the Vatican, saw Ra- 
phael's pictures and the tapestries from his 
designs. I shall not attempt to describe these 
nor the other pictures here, being beyond my 
attainments in the fine arts. The sculptures 
and statues are also beyond me, far too beautiful 
for any language I have. I could walk up and 



A TEIP TO ROME. 



59 



down looking at the busts and statues for days, 
and still wish to go back. They have made free 
use of stucco fig-leaves, and plastered one on 
every statue ; here and there some wicked boy (?) 
has cleaned some of them with his knife, for 
which all I say is, " Palmam qui meruit ferat." 

16th. This day was spent looking into shop 
windows, and the evening w r e spent at Macpher- 
son's, where we took tea. 

17th. This being St. Patrick's day w r e w 7 ent to 
hear an Irish priest, Father Burke, make an 
oration on the saint, and a bit phillipic on Henry 
VIII. The saint, the greatest in the calendar, 
and the Irish the most faithful and religious in 
the world, and the abolition of the Irish Estab- 
lishment a fulfilment of St. Patrick's prayers 
and prophecy. In the evening we took tea at 
Dr. G . . . . *s ; they are excellent people, and we 
enjoyed ourselves very much. 

18th. We went to the church of Gesu : it is 
very grand. There was a priest preaching, 
so we did not get a particular look at it, but 
what we did see was very fine. We then set 
off to St. Peter's ; this we never tire of. It 
is being arranged for holy week, which begins 
on Sunday. I forgot to mention that Mr. 



60 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



Macpherson held the plate at the door of St. Isi- 
dore's on St. Patrick's day. We got from him 
some shamrocks blessed by the Pope. 

19th. Drove out by the Porto St. Pancrazio to 
the Villa Pamfili, on the top of the Janiculum. 
It is the largest and finest of the Eoman villas ; 
its gardens are beautiful, very tastefully laid 
out — the beds represent birds, etc. — the whole 
beautiful and extensive/ with lots of fountains, 
and fine walks adorned with antique statues, 
urns, altars, all discovered on the grounds. 
Within the villa there are also a few good sta- 
tues and busts, and one or two good pictures ; 
there are also some telling views of Venice, but 
daubs as pictures ; but the finest things are the 
views from the terraces, those from the top mag- 
nificent, embracing the country all round, the 
towns of Frascati, Tivoli, and the villas on the 
mountain sides, and some even say the sea. St. 
Peter's is seen here grand, rising above every- 
thing ; here and the Pincio are, I think, the only 
places where it seems what it is ; it is so shut 
up by narrow streets that you cannot get a good 
view of it, and when near you lose half its size. 

There is a beautiful columbarium here, very 
well preserved, the frescoes being in good condi- 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



61 



tion. There is another small one, but it is being 
allowed to go to ruin, although its pictures are also 
still in fair condition. All over the extensive 
grounds are fountains and altars, one large one on 
the lawn with fine sculptures on it. There is also 
a monument to the Trench who fell on the spot in 
1849, when storming the Gate of Aurelian, which 
they took by assault. It is very pretty, — a canopy 
supported on four pillars, with an angel standing 
in the centre, and inscriptions. 

In the evening we went to the Pincio, the 
fashionable promenade, the Eotten Eow of Eome, 
where, this being the feast of St. Joseph, the 
band played, all the rank and fashion of Eome 
being there, and also the distinguished visitors. 
The panorama was most grand in the setting 
sun. I sat more than an hour looking over the 
balustrade at the domes and belfries on the 
numerous churches, the columns, etc., all reflect- 
ing a golden sun. Did you notice there are no 
steeples in this place ? All the shops were shut : 
I think this corresponds with our birstling-day, 
as they sell something of the kind called Frit- 
tella. 

20th. Visited the Diocletian baths again, and 
also the Barberini Palace, where there are one 



62 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



or two good pictures, — the Marriage of St. 
Catherine, Parmigiano ; a Madonna, Eaphael, 
copied by himself ; a Marine Landscape, C. Lor- 
raine ; Christ and the Doctors, A. Durer ; Bea- 
trice Cenci, by Guido — of which nearly every 
artist's shop in Eome has a copy for sale — Death 
of Gernianicus, N. Poussin. Leaving this, we 
went to the Church of the Capuchins, below 
which are four mortuary chapels containing 
earth from the Holy Land, in which the monks 
are buried; " non requiescant in pace/' for when 
one dies the one who has been longest buried 
must get up to make room for the new comer 
who takes his place, the old one's bones being 
formed, along with those of his predecessors, 
into ornaments and ornamental walls for these 
chapels ; some have been made into arches of 
a tomb-shape, in which celebrated monks of 
the order are laid in their canonicals, others are 
made into candelabra in which lamps are hung, 
some into figures representing Death with the 
hour-glass and scythe, some into figures of an- 
gels, etc. etc., the mass making walls 12 or 14 
inches thick for the niches already mentioned. 
We saw the skulls and bones of upwards of 
4000 of them. 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



63 



We finished the day with a drive round the 
Pincio. 

21st. This being Palm Sunday, we started, a 
little after seven o'clock a.m., for the Vatican, 
provided with tickets, which were, however, of 
little use, as the whole places were taken up 
before we arrived ; notwithstanding, we saw the 
ceremony, blessing the palms ; and the Pope 
being carried in procession four times. Lots 
of fine uniforms and church millinery, but far 
too theatrical to be impressive. Although we 
have tickets for the whole week, I do not expect 
any of us will go back. The ladies (ours) all left 
at eleven a.m. I made myself a martyr and saw 
it out, till about one o'clock, and was heartily 
sick of the whole affair, as well as with standing 
the whole time. Somebody suggested I should 
go to vespers ; I preferred writing this, and a 
smoke, which I find the best of incense. 

22d. Visited a private museum in Via Poli, 
where there are some antique busts (?), as well 
as copies of some of the finer statues, some beau- 
tiful bronzes, two of which I took a fancy to, 
and priced, but they were only for sale in one 
lot, consisting of a dozen or so, on a mosaic 
table about 12 or 15 feet long. There is also a 



64 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



very capital collection of Etruscan vases and 
other ornaments. It is a dealer's place. Above, 
on the next flat, is Castellani's, the celebrated 
jeweller and imitator of ancient Eoman and 
Etruscan jewels. They are very fine and taste- 
fully got up ; but the prices w^ere also fine, and 
rather distasteful. We then went up to the Capitol 
to see the museum, which was shut last time w 7 e 
went. The bronzes are very fine and curious, a 
steeZ-yard made of bronze, exactly the same as 
used here at the present day, only a little more 
ornamental ; a fine Diana of Ephesus clothed, 
in marble ; but what most amused me here is 
the " superb horse, 7 ' as the guides say. It may 
have been, and to some is, a very fine thing ; but 
when I tell you it wants all the upper part of 
the body, half the head, a leg or two, and the 
right fore one bent* in at the knee, and the foot 
splayed, the tail also gone, you must excuse me 
from going in ecstasies either at its fineness as 
a bronze, or the beauty of it as a horse ! Goth 
again ! Some of the marble statues are really 
grand, and there are two very finely-chiselled 
sarcophagi. Here is also the Dying Gladiator, 
w r ell worth coming to see itself ; but its calm 
repose was spoiled by a pair of young hussies, 



A TRIP TO HOME. 



65 



who, having learned the jargon of art, kept 
buzzing about, posing themselves, glass in eye, 
and chattering like magpies. I could (I am 
not sure if I didn't) d — n them ! But the 
gem (to me) is the Venus, in a room by herself, 
in the long gallery, said to be by Praxiteles ; but 
whether that be or be not, she is certainly the 
most beautiful thing I ever did see. I went back 
to see her several times, and sat looking at her 
perfect form and living-like gracefulness, and, 
as the keeper turned her round, she seemed 
almost alive. An infernal cockney, who knew 
as much about beauty as I cared to know about 
him, displayed his ignorance to his companions, 
by pointing out, as he called it, the fine bits. I 
wish some one had chopped his infernal tongue, 
and allowed me to enjoy myself in quietness. 
I left this museum with regret. There are more 
fine things here than in most museums of its 
size. Another ]ook at the Tarpeian rock from 
the garden, and we strolled to the Marmorata, 
the antique one which they are exhuming. This 
we missed the last time we were in this quarter. 
It is not easily got at. Here are pillars, cor- 
nices, and a fine Corinthian capital, prepared for 
some edifice or another, and various other pieces 

F 



06 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



of curious marbles (the quarries from which 
some of them were got being now unknown), 
lying as they were lost 1500 or 1800 years 
ago. 

23c£. Went to the Doria palace, which, I think, 
contains the best general collection of pictures 
I have seen here. Nearly all the old masters 
are represented. We then went to the Albani 
Villa, beyond the Porta Salara, where there are 
some fine antique statues and busts, and also 
bas-reliefs. There are also some paintings, but 
these last don't seem much worth. We drove 
afterwards through the Borghese grounds, which 
is a fine drive. 

2<tth. This may be said to begin Holy Week, 
so we went to St. Peter's, heard the Tenebrse and 
Miserere, and as everybody goes into ecstasies 
you can just suppose we did so. 

25th. To-day the ladies went to St. Peter's at 
nine A.M., and staid till half-past seven p.m. ; I 
went about ten A.M., saw the Pope washing the 
feet, and giving his blessing from the balcony 
in front of the church. I daresay there were 
20,000 people present ; but, as this is done again 
on Sunday, we will carry it forward. Then I 
saw the Pope walk from the supper through the 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



67 



gallery. He is a venerable-looking old man. 
I then drove to St. Giovanni, saw the sacred 
stairs crowded again with the crawlers np on 
their knees, heard part of the Tenebrse sung by 
the chapter ; but thinking I might have plenty 
of time to read the Lamentations of Jeremiah at 
home, I left at the end of the third chapter, and 
suppose they finished nicely without me. Drove 
by the Coliseum, and took a comfortable dinner 
and a bottle of Velletri, and home — the ladies 
arriving shortly after — I enjoying their starva- 
tion. Nothing can make you sympathise with 
starving people better than having had a good 
dinner yourself, etc. etc. 

I have seen Mr. Macpherson two or three 
times, and bought a lot of photos, from him. I 
have also got a small present for you from him, 
and if I don't pop it (being hard up) will bring 
it home to you. 

2&th. This is Good Friday, and there is more 
Tenebra3 and Miserere ; and I am writing this 
with a very good cigar in my mouth, and called 
all that is amiable, because I prefer it to being 
crushed in a crowded chapel. Tickets are all very 
well, but unless you go long hours before and 
wait, they are little use. One lady was crushed 



68 



A TEIP TO EOME. 



to death last Sunday, and another died yester- 
day from the effects of a crush. 

I have paid another visit to St. Maria Mag- 
giore, and think it improves on acquaintance. 
It was during the Tenebrse, The singing was 
much superior to St. Peter's of yesterday, and 
there was a crush ; then out to St. Lorenzo, 
beyond the walls, which has twenty-two pillars 
(antique) of unequal thickness and lengths (?). 
The inequality of the thickness is easily seen, 
but I do not think there is any difference of the 
height, They are of different stone, but arranged 
in pairs, so that the difference scarcely strikes 
you — the floor of beautiful Alexandrian work. 
There is also a lower church beyond and under 
the altar, but there is nothing remarkable about 
it. One or two places we could not see here, as 
the whole place is undergoing repair, and was 
filled with scaffolding and workmen. It will be 
very fine when completed. Beside this church 
is a very extensive cemetery the entrance to 
which is through extensive cloisters, which 
seem to have been recently renewed ; both they 
and some portions are filled with very fine mo- 
numents and tomb-stones, surmounted by busts, 
and having bas-reliefs on their sides ; here also 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



69 



a series of catacombs have been cleared out, 
some of which contain curious paintings ; but 
they are clearing them away to make room for 
the new vaults which are being formed in the 
side of the hill. 

27^A. Went to St. Giovanni in the Lateran, 
and heard mass, and saw in the baptistery (which, 
by the way, is very fine, and which we omitted to 
see in our last visit) the great annual ceremony 
of baptizing the Jews who have been converted. 
To-day there w r as only one, and I am not sure 
of her, as she went through the ceremony very 
much like playing a part, taking a quiet giggle 
between the different parts of the ceremony. 
This being over, and it is imposing, she went 
back to the church and was confirmed, and took 
the sacrament, the former in the body of the 
church, fitted up for the occasion, and the latter 
behind the high-altar (at which no one performs 
mass except the Pope). In this she was joined 
by a score or so of chaps ; this being over she 
retired, and the lads were then put through a 
number of ceremonies, such as going up one by 
one, and having a short gown of white trimmed 
with lace put on, having a lock of hair cut from 
their foreheads, their love-locks, and a little 



70 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



from the crown of their heads, all carefully pre- 
served in a plate. There was a good deal more 
of it, but I was tired, and went out to meditate 
on the peculiar mounting of the smoke of my 
cigar, and dispel the effects of the incense ; and 
I daresay they finished their priest-making, for 
such it was, well enough without me. 

28th. This was or should have been the great 
day. We did not go into St. Peter's, as it is 
nearly a repetition of Good Friday, except the 
dresses and the sounding of the silver trumpets ; 
but, having got a good position on the top of the 
piazza, we could see the whole outside cere- 
mony, which was very imposing. It was nearly 
the same as Good Friday, except that the crowd 
in the piazza was much greater. All the troops 
were drawn up, and lots of the country people 
in their peculiar costumes, and all the others in 
their Sunday's best, gave it a most imposing 
appearance. The Pope was in his Sunday best 
as well, wearing the triple crown as he gave his 
blessing to the crowd ; which being done, the 
bands struck up, and the cannons from St. 
Angelo boomed, and a slight cheer was given. 
A much louder one I have heard in Freemasons' 
Hall, when the health of the Grand Bard was 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



71 



given, than came from the 20 or 30,000 people 
here assembled. A short quarter of an hour, 
and the great crowd had left the piazza. You 
have no doubt heard of the splendid effect of 
the lighting of the dome of St. Peter's. Well, 
so have I ; also of the fire-works on the Monday 
night ; well, do. ! the weather was so rainy 
and windy that both were put off, and so 
were we ! 

Leaving next morning (the 29th) for Florence, 
which we reached at night after a long ride, very 
tired. The scenery was fine, in some places 
grand, and we enjoyed it till the afternoon 
when it poured of rain, and we could scarcely 
see out. One comfort, we had a carriage to our- 
selves, so we had some fun ; but when it began 
to get dark, and the windows close, it was cold 
and dreary, and we were quite glad when we 
reached the Hotel de l'Europe, and got some 
supper and to our beds. 

30th. The weather is dreadful, and we have 
been employed in the Uffizi and Pitti Palaces 
all day. They are wonderful collections, and re- 
quire weeks instead of hours. We stayed till put 
out, and had just finished doing the last room 
when this happened. After dinner we visited 



72 



A TRIP TO ROME, 



the churches on the other side of the water. 
II Carmine, of which I think nothing ; of the fres- 
coes less. St. Spirito, a very good specimen of 
the basilica, the pillars of dark stone, having a 
very imposing appearance. We walked round 
the cloisters of the convent with their numerous 
inscriptions, etc., and were not displeased to find 
the place now used as barracks for soldiers. 
We then came across the funny bridge with the 
jewellers' shops on each side, reminding one 
of the quaint pictures of London bridge in the 
olden times. 

olst. Visited the Cathedral, Baptistry, and 
Campanile, very beautiful with their black and 
white marble. Saw a poor child baptized, and 
its poor wee head drenched. However, the 
padre was not altogether cruel, as he warmed 
the towel over a chaffer before he dried it. 
Went to the top of the tower ; the view de- 
lightful. Did a few more churches, such as the 
Annunciata, St. Croce, St. Mark, and St. Marie 
Novello, and then dinner, then off to Venice, 
arriving on the 

1st. When we leave this, we will be on our 
way home, and I am beginning to wish I was 
back. We will not put off by the way now, as 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



73 



all our luggage is sent on to Paris, except what 
we can carry in our hands. 

1st. Visited, by the help of a guide (retained 
for the day) and a water-cab, St. Mark's, the 
beautiful mosaics of which are certainly not 
surpassed in extent anywhere, and seldom even 
in workmanship. I suppose it is all right about 
St. Mark's being under the high-altar. I could 
not contradict the guide. Paced through the 
Doge's Palace, library, galleries, prisons, and all, 
from the leads to the dungeons. But the best 
thing in Venice, not excluding the churches, 
was the gondoling (that's a new word). I en- 
joyed it immensely, up one water-street and 
down another, round the Mole and back by the 
harbour, shopping — all in a water-cab. It poured 
all day, except the sail-time round the Mole, so 
we finished our day with our dinner and went 
to bed, and started on the 

2d for Milan at ten A.M., and after a day of 
rain till about two p.m., when it faired ; little or 
no scenery was to be seen. AVe arrived in time 
for dinner. 

3d. Visited the cathedral, at which they have 
been building since 1386 ; and if there be any 
truth in Dr. Cumming's prophecies, they will go 



74: A TRIP TO ROME. 

on till the end of the world, and one of the most 
noble churches will be then unfinished. The 
height from the ground to the top of the Virgin, 
which stands on the cupola, is 355 feet, inside 
the height of the roof above the floor 153 feet. 
The columns separating the aisles from the nave 
are 80 feet high, and the whole structure is of 
pure white marble from the quarries of La 
Gandoglia, near Lago Maggiore, which I think 
the guide said were gifted to the church by the 
Duke of Milan, Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti. 
There are some very good painted glass windows, 
and some only so-so. In the sacristy are some 
fine things, two colossal statues in silver of San 
^Carlo and San Ambrosio in their pontificals, 
adorned with precious stones ; silver busts, gold 
and silver altar-cups, lamps ; also a golden pax 
beautifully set with precious stones, cameos, 
silver statuettes, two small columns of lapis 
lazuli, and set on a stone a brilliant cross of 
diamonds. There are also some altar-pieces, 
two of them of exquisite embroidery, and one 
of solid silver weighing 111 metric lbs., how- 
ever much that may be, but I don't know. 
The roof is reached by a narrow staircase from 
the inside of the cathedral, and from it you get 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



75 



to the top of the spire, only, however, after 
climbing 512 steps. The view from here is 
grand — the snow-capped Alps in the distance, 
and the city spread like a map at your feet; 
the top of the church between you, with its 
seven thousand statues stuck up all over it. The 
two finest are those of Adam and Eve, and a 
Eebecca by Canova ; among the other saints on 
the top of the nave, one of Napoleon the First. 
From its foundation till 1866 it is said to have 
cost £22,000,000, or 550 millions of francs. 
There are a few other churches here worth see- 
ing, but I am tired running through them. We 
went to the Theatre " La Seal a/' said to be the 
largest in the world, being seated for 3600 
spectators. The stage was immense, and the 
number of ballet-girls past counting; the dis- 
play of legs great indeed in this theatre — the 
poet must have first thought "that beauty un- 
adorned, adorned the most" — for had you cut 
the ballet-girls through the middle, and the 
ladies of the boxes in the same manner, and 
stuck the upper part of the latter on the lower 
part of the former, you would have a very good 
notion of the fashion sported by Eve in the 
garden of Eden. 



76 



A TEIP TO ROME. 



ith. Left Milan at ten a.m., and arrived at 
Turin about three p.m. There are some nice 
squares and streets, wide and clean, one or two 
good statues, but we did not remain long here, 
taking the evening train to Susa, at the bottom 
of the Alps, which we reached in time for sup- 
per in the Grand Hotel de France — about the 
worst I was ever in, and, I may say, the dearest. 
After supper told the waiter to call us in time 
for the first train over the mountains, and to 
have breakfast ready for us. About an hour 
after he came into our room, saying that an 
avalanche had fallen, and that we could not 
proceed. A little annoyed at being detained at 
such a place, but not being able to make a 
better of it, we sat down to a tumbler, as there 
would be no use for getting up early. 

Next morning at five o'clock we heard a knock- 
ing at all the doors, and at last at our own, and 
the waiter bawling at the top of his voice, " Le 
train va partir! le train va partir!" so up we 
got in a hurry, with scarcely time to dress or 
get breakfast, and ran off to the station, 
found all the first-class seats taken, and with 
difficulty got third-class ones. We soon found, 
however, that we were better in the third than 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



77 



in the first, as the views are much better seen 
from there being glass on both sides of the car- 
riages instead of only at the ends, as in the first. 

Susa, from which we started, is 1690 feet above 
the level of the sea ; the summit of Mont Cenis 
is 6890 feet, or 5200 feet higher, and from thence 
to St. Michel, descending, is 4667 feet. The 
actual distance betwen Susa and St. Michel is 25 
miles, and by railway 67. The gradients are, on 
an average, 1 in 11, or nearer still, 91 in 1000. 

This is a most wonderful railway ; it goes 
over the mountains in a series of zig-zags, turn- 
ing round corners, which one, not having seen, 
would never believe. So sharp are they that those 
in the latter part of the train can see, from the 
side windows, the engine drawing them passing, 
as it were, in the opposite direction. 

Although the snow was very deep in some 
places it did not feel very cold, indeed I stood 
outside nearly the whole way. At the end of 
each carriage is a small platform on which a 
breaksman stands in constant attendance on a 
powerful brake, so that in case of accident the 
train can be almost instantly stopped, even 
going up or coming down the steepest inclines 
on the mountain. At several places where the 



78 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



line has been cut on the side of a cliff it is 
arched over with an iron roof, making a kind of 
tunnel, of which there are several very long ones, 
during the passage of which the doors of all the 
carriages are carefully shut to prevent the ingress 
of the steam, for these tunnels have no ventila- 
tion except at the ends, and are so narrow that 
the train about fills them. Going through the 
longest of them I stupidly remained outside, 
and was nearly suffocated, although I lay down 
with my head on the floor of the platform, and 
besides was nearly broiled, the heat being so 
oppressive that I was literally wet with perspira- 
tion, and all the snow which was on the carriages 
was clean melted away, and the ice which was 
on the tops of the carriages was dripping over 
the sides. When we reached the top of the 
mountain we experienced the effects of the ava- 
lanche, having to get out of the train — the line 
for some miles being entirely blocked up — and 
get into sledges, going through snow so deep 
that one of the young ladies of our party was 
almost lost sight of. 

Getting into the sledges was no easy matter, 
not only on account of the snow but also the 
want of them, as there were a greater number 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



79 



of passengers than usual, so many people were 
returning from Koine, as is usual at the end 
of holy week, which may be called the end 
of the Roman season. At last we did get into 
one, but found it anything but a comfortable 
place, as there were six in it and room only for 
four. The seats and floor were covered with 
dried grass, under which we found a layer of 
snow ; the careless rascals, instead of clearing it 
out, had just spread the grass on the top of it. 

The drive was not unpleasant, lasting some- 
what more than an hour. Numbers of men 
were clearing the line with spades ; to me it 
seemed a hopeless task, and one likely to last a 
pretty long time, but w T as informed that in all 
probability it would be right in a day or two. 
We changed from the sledges to the train which 
had been sent from the other side to meet us, 
and now began the descent, which was made at 
very rapid speed. Sometimes as the train rushed 
down the mountain it seemed as if the engineers 
and guards had lost all command of it, and that 
w T e were going right over some of the precipices, 
when it took a sudden turn and went on a little 
on a level part, but only to dash away down 
again. Soon w r e began to leave the snow and 



so 



A TPJP TO ROME. 



the bare rocks behind, and passing through fir- 
plantations and vineries, reached St. Michel on 
a fine warm sunny afternoon. Here we lunched, 
and a difficulty occurred which nearly upset all 
our arrangements. On going to the booking- 
office to take our tickets, I tendered a ten-pound 
Bank of England note, which was refused, and 
on my asking if there was any money-changer's 
near, was answered in the negative, and unfortu- 
nately I was short of gold to the extent of one 
hundred and twenty francs. I could find no one 
to change, and it seemed as if we would be 
obliged to take our tickets to the nearest town 
where we could change our notes, when Captain 
W. 3 whose acquaintance we had only made in 
the train coming over the mountain, very kindly 
offered me the loan of what I might need, hold- 
ing out a handful of Napoleons, telling me to 
take as many as I wanted, and that I could 
repay him when we reached Paris. I took six 
of them, thanking him very heartily, and we 
travelled together to Paris, where we all meant 
to stay a day or two, but the captain changed 
his mind, and said he would go straight on to 
London ; and when I mentioned that I feared I 
would not be able to get change in time for him, 



A TRIP TO ROM E. 



81 



he replied it was of no consequence ; I could see 
him at the club when I came to London. 

After a day or two in Paris we went to London, 
and I immediately called on the captain and 
found he had gone to the country and left no 
address. I w 7 as much annoyed at this, the more 
so as I was afraid I had mistaken the club, as the 
porter did not seem quite clear at first, and, I fan- 
cied at last, said "gone to the country" to hide his 
ignorance. We left London same night, and ar- 
rived safely at home next morning, when I wrote 
to the captain expressing my sorrow at not seeing 
him in London and repaying him his so kindly- 
given loan ; but for ten long days I got no answer. 
Surely, I thought, he must have got the letter, 
or why has it not been returned by the post- 
office? 

I went off to the country, and a day or two 
after I was glad to receive an answer from the 
captain telling me his whereabouts, and it was 
a load off my mind when I posted a cheque to 
his address, and a joy when, a day or two after- 
wards, I got a kind note acknowledging its 
receipt. 

There was nothing very interesting on the 
journey from St. Michel home, as, with the ex- 

G 



82 



A TRIP TO ROME. 



ception of the day or two in Paris, \ve did not 
stop anywhere on the way, as all the trunks and 
baggage had been sent on by the " Messageries 
Imperiales " from Florence to Paris, to await us 
there, but by some accident they were sent by 
slow instead of quick train, and were on the 
way for ten days, and I believe did not reach 
Paris for about other ten after we left. 

So there was no alternative but to get home 
as soon as possible, as ladies can go nowhere 
without endless changes of dress, which makes 
them troublesome as well as expensive "com- 
pagnons de voyage f however, we were not sorry 
to be at home again, after having been away for 
nearly three months. 



Note A, p. 11. 



Before leaving, I must mention one of the prettiest 
girls I ever saw ; she kept a cigar-shop, which was also 
the post-office. Dick and I went in to see her four or 
five times a-day, now for a box of matches, then for a 
stamp, again to see if our letters were not over weight ; 
nor were we alone in our admiration of her, the ladies 
even could not help praising her beauty. Dick after- 
wards saw a photograph of her, which, of course, he 
carried off regardless of expense. 



Note B, p. 57. 

Was much amused here by a rather stout lady (say 
18 stone), who, before attempting the ascent, stepped 
aside near where we were standing, and quietly undid 
her garters from above a pair of rather respectable 
calves. 



